I’m a 26-year-old black male. I have suffered from razor bumps in the back of my head for about 10 years. The razor bumps have now caused hair loss in that area. I have a scar in the back of my head and hair won’t grow in that area. What can I do? I want my hair back. Is it possible that it will grow back? What type of treatment do I need?

If this has been progressing over 10 years or so, then it is likely that you have lost your hair in the various areas where these bumps are. Consider not shaving your head completely, but perhaps just clipping it with a #1 guard electric shaver. Then wait up to 6 months or so and then you may know if this process reverses. Hair transplants could be used if the problem is not too extensive. I’d have to see what you’re describing to recommend much beyond just playing the waiting game.

Are rockers in rock bands immune to balding. would loud music keep the DHT away from attacking your hair follicles? most rockers i see have long thick hair!

I have had many famous rockers (and not-so-famous rockers) come to my office after experiencing hair loss and then got it back with transplants. So no, loud music is not protective… it will just make you deaf.

From time to time we treat patients that will then refer other family members. Both the man below and his brother had hair transplants, and they’ve both been just delightful. Jokes and humor abound during the surgeries and the follow-up visits. Such a good natured, fun person to be around. It took 4 surgeries spaced over a few years, but he met his hair restoration goals and is excited about the results. I am too!

Click photos to enlarge.

After a total of 4539 grafts:

Before:

Update:
I should’ve explained the case better in the initial post, so I’ll attempt to do that here.

The before photos that are posted above actually reflect far less hair than the pictures indicated. The patient’s hair is fine, so each hair shaft has less bulk than an average person with medium weight hair. The hair thinning went back some 5 inches beyond the leading forelock shown in the picture, but I originally decided that just advancing the hairline would suffice without going back to the thinning area. The entire forelock disappeared after the first procedure and he had more hair loss behind the area that was originally transplanted, so the second procedure was done to thicken up much of the forelock area which was lost.

The original plan that was created brought the hairline down considerably. It took two procedures (3288 grafts total) to get him what he wanted and to fill the area behind the site of the original transplant. For the patient that is taking the drug finasteride, rarely some additional hair loss may occur after the first transplant, as was the case here.

He is a bit of a perfectionist and the two other smaller procedures (553 grafts and 698 grafts over a year apart) were done to deal with some more hair loss behind the transplanted hair. He also wanted to put some more grafts in areas where he thought additional hair would help.

My 13 year old daughter annually starts complaining about the area over her right eye hurting. Within about 2-3 weeks the eyebrow hair will fall out while sleeping, or I just have to rub my finger over it and it comes off. This has happened 3 years in a row. Her pediatrician thought she may have used a razor the first time but now I KNOW thats not happening. I personally see it rub off at the root. What is happening?

It sounds like she might have a medical condition known as trichotillomania, which is a compulsion to pull hair out (which could also explain pain felt in the area). This can occur while your daughter is sleeping, and she is probably unaware that she’s doing it. If a doctor looks at it with magnification, he will see “Exclamation point” hairs and broken hairs at different levels in the eyebrow hair.

You could treat it by putting a head band around her head securing the eyebrows within it. Keep this for 3 months or so and see if the hair grows back. That would confirm the diagnosis. Often, a doctor can look at the eyebrows and see changes in the hair that point to this diagnosis.

According to a study released Wednesday by the California Pain Medicine Center, subjects suffering from male- pattern baldness were found to experience a level of physical pain at least seven times more intense than that experienced by women during childbirth.

Is there absolutely no way for an 18 year old to lower his hairline. I am a performing musician so my image is fairly important. Whether I am on the way to a fully bald head I don’t know but I have always had a very high hairline and thin curly hair which is really hard to manage and maintain. Messy hair just doesn’t look cool with a 4 inch forehead.

I do not know anything about you and certainly do not know what you look like. Yes, hairlines can be lowered a number of ways… but would I do it on an 18 year old that wants to look cool? Probably not.

If there is good reason to do it, I would consider it, but a doctor-patient relationship is critical and that starts out with a face to face meeting.

A robotic arm, used to harvest hair from a person’s head, sounds strange but it’s the newest way to combat hair loss.

“I started losing my hair in my early 20’s,” said 38-year-old Vincent Delany. “It started receding back where I just had a little strip. Then my crown started thinning a lot where you can actually see scalp.”

It was a big enough concern that Delany looked into hair restoration surgery. He tried the traditional graft harvest, also known as the strip method. This is when a strip of skin is removed and doctors remove the follicular unit grafts one by one under a microscope. The method can be tedious and long.

This new technology will make follicular unit extraction (FUE) more popular and easier for most doctors, but it will not likely drive the cost of a hair transplant down as the robotic Artas® system is quite expensive for the clinic ($200,000 for the machine) plus the company charges an additional $1/graft.

This system extracts the grafts for the doctor and does so with minimal damage, but it still does not address the placement of graft, which is a technical limiting activity for many doctors wanting to enter the hair transplant business. The process of moving the grafts requires that they are taken from the “wet” environment they are placed in after harvesting (a dish or container of saline) and moved into the recipient area. This is a manual activity and requires skills that are acquired over years working in the field. There is a wide variation amongst doctors in delivering the placement of graft skill, so the robotic system must eventually deliver graft placement to close the loop for a complete robotic hair restoration.

Grafts can die if they are exposed to the air for as short a time as just 10 seconds, so keeping grafts moist is critical to graft survival (with or without the robot). For many doctors who have not mastered the FUE technique, this instrument can change the harvesting technique that is routinely offered; however, there is no experience with large sessions with the Artas® system (sessions above 1500 grafts) so more frequent surgeries may be necessary for those individuals who have Class 4-7 balding patterns. I have no doubt that the placement of grafts will eventually be included in a robotic hair restoration process and look forward to the day that it is available.

There’s a photo of the system here and in full disclosure, Restoration Robotics (the maker of this system) licensed the core optical technology from us.

Hi, I am 43 year old and been taking propecia 1 mg per day and 5 % minoxidil. I have taken these for the last 13 years. The results have been amazing, probably a little less hair on top and sides now. As far as I am aware you didn’t/don’t think I have had any side effects. Well I have a slight none itchy rash above my upper lip. I have got very worried about using the propecia so I want to give this drug up. How would I scale down the drug and over what time period please. I have already halved the tablet each day. I do hope you can help, there is just so much worrying data on net saying about terrible side effects after finishing off propecia. Thanks in advance

The dosage of any medication has little to do with the allergic response. If you are allergic to it, cutting the finasteride pills in half will not solve your allergy issue. It’s possible that either Propecia or minoxidil could cause allergic reactions like you described, but you could and probably should see a good doctor for the discussion.

Stopping the pills or the minoxidil for a couple of weeks will have minimal impact on the hair, but will address the allergy issue if that is the cause.

I fell against an open fire surround when a child. I suffered a bald area 3 inches wide by 2 inches long. 15 years ago I had an expander inserted and about 90 percent of the bald spot was removed. This was okay but now my hair is thinning around the scar area.

I am female over 55 and am very conscious of this as I am very limited in my hairstyles. As the thinning area would hopefully now have enough blood supply from the ajoining hair, would I be able to have transplants inserted into the thinning area?

Also, how do I find a good surgeon in the Northern Ireland area. Thanks

Each case is unique, so there’s no way I could know if you’re a candidate for transplantation without an examination. I could evaluate you, but from Ireland it would be difficult. Look to the ISHRS for doctor recommendations in Ireland.

Dr. Bessam Farjo is one a contributor to this site and is based in the UK, so it may be worth a trip to have him evaluate you.

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This site is intended to educate the public on hair loss topics based on personal experience and opinions from Dr. William Rassman and contributing physician editors. Information provided on BaldingBlog.com should not be used for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment.